Medical diagnostic and imaging systems are ubiquitous in modem health care facilities. Such systems provide invaluable tools for identifying, diagnosing and treating physical conditions and greatly reduce the need for surgical diagnostic intervention. In many instances, final diagnosis and treatment proceed only after an attending physician or radiologist has complemented conventional examinations with detailed images of relevant areas and tissues via one or more imaging modalities.
Currently, a number of modalities exist for medical diagnostic and imaging systems. These include computed tomography (CT) systems, x-ray systems (including both conventional and digital or digitized imaging systems), magnetic resonance (MR) systems, positron emission tomography (PET) systems, ultrasound systems, nuclear medicine systems, and so forth. In many instances, these modalities complement one another and offer the physician a range of techniques for imaging particular types of tissue, organs, physiological systems, and so forth. Health care institutions often dispose of several such imaging systems at a single or multiple facilities, permitting its physicians to draw upon such resources as required by particular patient needs.
Modem medical diagnostic systems typically include circuitry for acquiring image data and for transforming the data into a useable form which is then processed to create a reconstructed image of features of interest within the patient. The image data acquisition and processing circuitry is often referred to as a "scanner" regardless of the modality, because some sort of physical or electronic scanning often occurs in the imaging process. The particular components of the system and related circuitry, of course, differ greatly between modalities due to their different physics and data processing requirements.
In medical diagnostic systems of the type described above, imaging or examination protocols are commonly employed for performing a series of functions, typically designed to produce image data which can be later reconstructed. While the particular physics of the system dictates the types of protocols which are employed, all modalities will execute a range of such protocols to provide specific types of images as required by the specific anatomy or diagnosis involved. For example, in MRI systems pulse sequences are typically defined by protocols that include a series of pulses designed to excite gyromagnetic material in a subject of interest and to sense emissions from the gyromagnetic material in response to the pulses. In CT systems, other protocols are used to command x-ray emissions and movements of a system gantry as well as other components for successive acquisition of a multitude of image data sets which are later reconstructed into a useful image.
Such protocols are typically installed on scanners initially and may be expanded by purchase or license of additional software or hardware needed to execute the protocols. In many systems, additional protocols can be executed on existing components, and their installation is accomplished by simply loading the protocol software on to the existing system controller. Moreover, attempts have been made to provide a limited degree of remote upgrading of certain modality scanners through network connections.
While the current protocol distribution and upgrade systems are generally satisfactory in many respects, they are not within drawbacks. For example, the mere fact that a protocol is available on a scanner may not provide operations personnel with sufficient information on how to execute or implement the protocol, configuration parameters most useful in executing the protocol, and so forth. Often, textual manuals need to be consulted for this purpose. In other situations, clinicians or radiologists may contact a protocol vendor to obtain information on installation or configuration parameters. Moreover, where protocols are distributed by supports such as computer discs or other memory devices, the memory devices must be transported and the protocols installed by operations personnel or a field service engineer in a rather time consuming and somewhat inefficient manner. Even where software upgrades to some scanners have been made available via networks, the user is not generally provided with sufficient information for installation and use of the new protocol. Similarly, the user may not be aware of the existence of the new protocol or its availability or utility.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved system for providing protocols in medical diagnostic equipment. There is a particular need for a technique which is user friendly to the scanner operator and provides a clear listing of available protocols as well as new protocols as they become available. There is also a need for an improved technique for accessing a series of protocols from a listing or library, and for loading the protocol for execution on a diagnostic system.